Editorial: Toe to toe the second time around

You're excused if you came away from Tuesday's debate, the second of three between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, overdosing on boxing terms. The town hall format lived up to the 15-round analogies.

As debates go, the pacing and talking over each other actually provided the sort of political theater that offered a better view of each man.

Suggestion: For the next debate, give them the floor and let them go. No moderator. See where it leads. Obama and Romney seem ready.

Tuesday night came fairly close to that model. But boil it down, for now, to the subject of the economy and the debate showed Americans still have to suspend belief a bit in this race.

Romney brought the conversation back around to his contention that jobs and an economic turnaround would come more easily with him in the White House. "I can do that," he said. The trailer: Obama can't.

Exactly how still isn't clear. Obama pressed Romney on the point, too, putting it this way: If Romney were going to invest in a company, would he really wait until after signing the deal to find out the particulars? In this case, the signing date is Nov. 6.

And for Obama, two troubling crutches remain. The first is blaming the mess left behind by George W. Bush. The second is the vague notion that, with time, things will get better.

Romney didn't give the president a pass. Obama promised unemployment at least 2 percentage points lower, and he hasn't delivered. Obama promised to cut the deficit, which now is upwards of $16 trillion. If those things haven't happened by now, Romney asks, who's to say they will in the next four years?

Final analysis: If the differences between the two men aren't clear by now, you haven't been paying attention. That doesn't mean there isn't room to be undecided. It's just that it will be one heck of a leap from one side of the ballot to the other.

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Editorial: Toe to toe the second time around

You're excused if you came away from Tuesday's debate, the second of three between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, overdosing on boxing terms. The town hall format lived up to the 15-round analogies.